Struggling Boys’ Brigade to welcome all faiths

The youth organisation is welcoming atheists, Catholics, Muslims and girls in a bid to widen its appeal

The Boys’ Brigade was founded in Glasgow in 1883 to promote “reverence, discipline, obedience and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness”.

Today the youth organisation, which has long been associated with muscular Protestantism, is welcoming atheists, Catholics, Muslims and girls in a bid to widen its appeal and stop numbers from dwindling further.

During its mid 20th-century heyday the uniformed brigade, which traditionally meets in Church of Scotland halls, had about 100,000 members but now the figure is closer to 17,000 north of the border. As it prepared to celebrate the centenary of its junior section, the equivalent of cub scouts, BB Scotland stressed that it was now an equal opportunities organisation.

John Sharp, its newly appointed director for Scotland, said he wanted…